liz smith Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Texas Film Hall of Fame to Honor Its Best Emcee
Filed under: Awards », SXSW », Newsstand »
The Texas Hall of Fame awards ceremony always takes place on the night SXSW begins, and honors Texans who have contributed significantly to the film industry in some capacity. The evening has a reputation for being much more fun than the usual dry awards presentations. From 2002-2005, the evening's emcee was former Texas Governor Ann Richards, who added her trademark wit and humor to the proceedings. Richards was a longtime supporter and advocate of Texas film. In addition, she narrated a rollicking documentary about a favorite Texas food, Barbecue: A Texas Love Story, that played SXSW in 2004. In 2006, Richards had to back out of the ceremony due to illness. As you probably are aware, she died in September of esophageal cancer. The show may never be quite the same. Austin Film Society (AFS) has decided to dedicate the 2007 award ceremony to its most memorable emcee, and the theme of next year's ceremony will be "A Tribute to Ann Richards." Journalist Liz Smith, a longtime friend of Richards, will host the event next March. The Texas Hall of Fame didn't have to go far to pick some of its recipients for 2007, either: Richard Linklater, who founded AFS, and producer Elizabeth Avellan of Troublemaker Studios (you know, the movies directed by her estranged husband Robert Rodriguez). Other Hall of Fame honorees will include Betty Buckley and Bill Paxton (both from Fort Worth). Lily Tomlin and actress/playwright Anna Deavare Smith are also expected to attend. For those of us who can't be there, AFS has kindly posted a video made at the 2006 ceremony, in which various attendees send their best wishes to Richards.
Gypsy Rumors Are Untrue -- For Now
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Deals », RumorMonger », The Weinstein Co. », Remakes and Sequels »
On Wednesday, Martha let you in on a rumor circulating around about a possible new film version of Gypsy film from The Weinstein Company, which would star Catherine-Zeta Jones. Well, it turns out that Gossip Queen Liz Smith was talking about the Weinstein conception of the film ... which is but a dream of Harvey Weinstein's, nothing more. After the Post published her "announcement", Smith received a phone call from Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the musical, and he stated that Weinstein, "doesn't own the rights." In her column Friday, Smith made the correction, while still stating that, "I didn't say he had the rights. Just that he has a dream of producing a Gypsy movie, with Rob Marshall at the helm. And he does have such a dream."
Well, conveniently for Smith, I can't seem to pull up the original Post printing of her statements, but thanks to ComingSoon.net, which quoted her word for word, I can tell that she neither said that Weinstein has the rights nor that it is just a dream. She actually said, "Now the rumor is out and hot that the Weinstein Company is close on the heels of director Rob Marshall for a movie version of the show about the evolution of that famous stripper - Gypsy Rose Lee - and her infamous stage mother, Rose." From there, I don't know how Zeta-Jones became part of the mix, except that she has mentioned interest in playing Rose a few years ago, though she was talking about a Broadway revival then.
Anyway, the film could still be a possibility in the future, if Weinstein does decide to buy the rights. For someone with as much power as Harvey Weinstein, dreams do come true.
[via Playbill]
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